At CinemaCon earlier this year Samsung formally introduced its Onyx LED cinema screen and immediately questions were raised about sound. Many people questioned how good could the sound be without loudspeakers centered behind the screen?
Event cinema distributor Trafalgar Releasing announced plans today to provide immediate funding to U.S. cinema operators for the deployment of equipment that will significantly expand live event capabilities in domestic cinemas and offer open access to content owners with live event offerings.
Screenvision Media today announced that to date it has signed 28 exhibitor partnership contracts, representing 1,715 total screens across the nation. “At Screenvision Media, we take great pride in the strength of our relationships with our exhibitor partners,” said Darryl Schaffer, executive vice president of operations and exhibitor relations, Screenvision Media. “The renewal of existing partnerships and the addition of exciting new exhibitors to our roster both speak to the strength and stability of our core network and our ability to deliver real value to exhibitors nationwide.”
Cineplexx Kinobetriebe is installing the company’s first MediaMation MX4D Motion EFX Theatre, making it the first such installation in Austria. The 72-seat, 18-bench theatre is located in Graz, the country’s second largest city.
Samsung has announced a new CSI Leasing program to service existing and future Samsung customers. In separate news, Samsung has shared a list of certified resellers for the Samsung Onyx. The new leasing program will enable Samsung to provide customers with full-service lease solutions for its B2B display products, including but not limited to the revolutionary Samsung Onyx, industry leading Smart Signage solutions, hospitality displays and business monitors.
Fandango announced today it has signed multi-year deals with leading international exhibitors Cinemark, Cinepolis (in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile and Colombia), National Amusements (Showcase Cinemas, UCI) and Cinemex, adding more than 5,000 new screens in more than 15 Latin American countries. The new deals will bring Fandango’s global screen count to more than 45,000 worldwide.
Nagra’s myCinema is releasing the film The Moomins and the Winter Wonderland in theatres across North America this holiday season. The film will begin screenings December 7.
A new study conducted as part of a School of Communication research course at Emerson College has found that film critics' moderate influence on movies can have a significant impact on box office revenue. While an earlier Emerson study found that film critics have a moderate influence on movie outcomes for wide releases, the revenue difference between movies with negative and positive reviews on opening weekend was an average of $23 million. The study also found a revenue difference of $83 million for total domestic gross revenue.
Fathom Events is sponsoring the second annual Animation is Film a major animation festival hosted at the historic Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood (TCL Chinese 6 Theater) October 19-21. The festival will kick off with the U.S. premiere of Mirai, from director Mamoru Hosoda, ahead of its nationwide theatrical release from Fathom Events and GKids on November 29, December 5 and December 8.
In a reverse twist on the silent movies of old, The Companions: A Lost Screenplay is a film without moving images. Or, as described in accompanying notes from the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the sound installation becomes “a type of auditory cinema that explores the vital role sound plays in shaping narrative and affective space in film.” The 20-minute work, presented in the de Young’s iconic observation floor (one of the free spaces within the museum), couples sweeping 360-degree views of the city to a soundtrack of music and sound effects as reproduced through a 24-channel system of Meyer Sound loudspeakers.
